Canoes: A Natural History in North America

Several of the beautiful color designs available in 1926 for Old Town canoes.

Shipments of Old Town canoes arrived wrapped in straw and burlap at Shenk & Tittle, a sporting goods store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Dozens of newly finished canoes were stored on the roof of The Old Town Canoe Company factory.

The George A. Gray hardware store of Old Town, Maine, in 1906. George Gray stands at the far left.

The labels of Abiel Bickmore’s salve and powder that cured sores on work horses. The Bickmore powder, backed in 1884 by Herbert and George Gray, gave the Gray family national distribution experience that they used in marketing canoes.

The Old Town Canoe factory. Note the wrapped canoes awaiting shipment near the railroad.

An illustrated view of the Old Town factory appeared in the company catalogs.

Finishing work was done by hand on canoes built at the Old Town factory during the 1920s and 30s.

Prior to varnishing, Old Town employees used a vacuum system to remove dirt and debris that was left over from sanding, ca. 1922.

Benson Gray, a historian with the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association, is a member of the Gray family, founders of the Old Town Canoe Company.

When this Carleton Canoe catalog cover was published in 1924, Carleton canoes were built in the Old Town factory.

The Old Town Canoe Company celebrated the end of the First World War in 1919 with a military-themed catalog cover.

By 1923, images of women paddling canoes were prominent on the covers of catalogs produced by Old Town and other makers.

A before-and-after restoration of a 1927 Carleton canoe, which was built in the Old Town Canoe Company factory. Using the Old Town “build record,” the canoe was restored to the same colors and condition as the original. Restoration by Tom Seavey.

A before-and-after restoration of a 1927 Carleton canoe, which was built in the Old Town Canoe Company factory. Using the Old Town “build record,” the canoe was restored to the same colors and condition as the original. Restoration by Tom Seavey.

Emily Schoelzel restoring a 1964 Old Town OTCA canoe in the Salmon Falls Canoe shop.

Lateen sail design illustration by Todd Bradshaw for an Old Town wood-and-canvas canoe.

A worker at Old Town Canoes puts the finishing touches on a fiberglass model.

The old-line canoe builder Old Town expanded into the fiberglass market in the 1960s. This advertisement, for its Rushton model, claimed a weight of 18.5 pounds on the 10-foot solo boat. Cost was $195.

Sometimes canoe manufacturers went to extreme lengths to tout the quality of their synthetic canoes. In this case, Old Town dropped a Tripper model off of the roof of its plant in Old Town, Maine, to show it could take a punch and more-or-less snap right back to straight again.